Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret

Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret

W. Bradley Wendel, Edwin H. Woodruff Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

American lawyers have discretion about whom to represent. But that does not mean that a lawyer's decision about whom to represent should not be criticized -- either by other lawyers or by other members of society.

Prof. Brad Wendel has written a book examining episodes over the past 200 years where a lawyer represented a client deemed "odious" by much of society. Such episodes include, for example, large corporate law firms representing banks that received assets from Nazi Germany, tobacco companies and oil companies, as well as criminal lawyers representing figures such as Harvey Weinstein.

Prof. Wendel argues that two things can be true at the same time: that the representation of odious clients and criticism of those lawyers who represent odious clients are both consistent with ethical lawyering. How these two propositions can be simultaneously true is the subject of his scholarly and timely book

Prof. Ray Brescia, the Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law & Technology at Albany Law School and author of Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession, will respond to Prof. Wendel.

***In-Person CLE Credits Pending***

Following the discussion, attendees are invited to a light reception where they can further engage with the ideas presented. Additionally, "Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret" will be available for purchase at the event.